The VA recently announced the 2022 benefit rates for their Aid and Attendance program.
The 2022 rates are:
Single veterans: $2,050 per month/$24,610 per year
Married veterans: $2,431 per month/$29,175 per year
Surviving spouse: $1,318 per month/$15,816 per year
Veteran married to veteran, both eligible: $3,253 per month/$39,036 per year
Aid and Attendance is an add-on to benefit to the VA Basic Pension. To be eligible for Aid and Attendance benefits a veteran must have not been dishonorably discharged and have served during a wartime period. The wartime period requirement does not, however, mean that veteran had to have seen combat. Any service that included one day during a period of war qualifies. Aid and Attendance benefits also have income and asset limits for eligibility.
Additionally, the veteran, or their surviving spouse, must have some sort of disability. This disability can range from needing assistance with daily living activities to a full disability that leaves someone bedridden or needing full-time nursing home care. The disability also does not need to have been related to the veteran’s military service.
If a veteran does have a service-related disability, then they may be eligible for higher benefits than what they would receive through Aid and Attendance benefits. This service-related disability benefit would be in place of Aid and Attendance benefits and does not have income or asset limits for eligibility.
Both Aid and Attendance benefits and service-related disability benefits would also make likely make a person ineligible for the Medicaid nursing home benefit due to Medicaid’s relatively strict income and asset limits.
Veterans, or their spouses, seeking help in paying for either in-home care or a nursing home should meet with an experienced, local elder law attorney to discuss what the best benefit option is for their particular situation.
To discuss your potential application for VA benefits, please call Mitchell, Brown & Associates at (314) 962-0186.
